Neuroscience and hormesis: overview and general findings.

This article provides a summary of an assessment of the occurrence and impact of hormesis in the neurosciences, including the areas of neuroprotection, neurite outgrowth, and drugs for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, anxiety, pain, seizures, stroke, as well as in the areas of behavioral pharmacology, addictive drugs, stress biology including the Yerkes-Dodson law, and p-glycoprotein efflux activity. The findings indicate that the hormetic dose response has a common, if not dominant, presence in each of these diverse areas of neuroscience and further strengthens the conclusion that hormesis is highly generalizable, being independent of biological model, endpoint, and chemical class.